MCH marks its 15th anniversary: Olivier Giroud meets children who have received surgery

Isabelle Berro-Amadeï entouée de Yakuba Ouattara et d'Olivier Giroud ©Direction de la Communication – Manuel Vitali

On Thursday 13 July 2023, football world champion Olivier Giroud, an Ambassador for the Monaco Humanitarian Collective (MCH)*, visited the Principality to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Collective, the outstanding efforts of which have enabled 515 children to undergo heart surgery.

Accompanied by Isabelle Berro-Amadeï, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, and Guy Nervo, Director of the Monaco Cardiothoracic Centre (CCM), Olivier Giroud visited with four children from Niger and Côte d 'Ivoire who recently underwent heart surgery at the CCM.

Olivier Giroud, who became an ambassador and donor to the Collective nine years ago, spoke with host families and care staff, the Monaco Red Cross, and Rencontres Africaines, the association that helps host the children during their stay in Monaco.

Remise de chèques au MCH ©Direction de la Communication – Manuel Vitali

Also a highlight of the day, two MCH member associations — Children & Future and Monaco Aide et Présence (MAP) — awarded cheques to the Collective of an amount of €50,000 and €20,000 respectively. Children & Future, the MCH’s largest donor, was accompanied by basketball player Yakuba Ouattara, captain of the reigning French champion Roca Team and a sponsor of No Finish Line.

Since 2019, the development of a partnership with La Chaîne de l’Espoir has enabled MCH to carry out its work in four African countries (Mali, Madagascar, Senegal and Burkina Faso), offering surgery to children on site in their countries, when conditions allow. Care is provided at partner health centres in Monaco for the most serious cases and surgeries that cannot be performed in home countries.

For more information, see: www.mch.mc  

* The MCH is a solidarity network that brings together 16 Monegasque member NGOs ,three French NGO partners and three partner treatment centres (Monaco Cardiothoracic Centre, Princess Grace Hospital, Monaco Institute of Sports Medicine and Surgery (IM2S), and four in Africa (Centre Cardio-pédiatrique André Festoc in Bamako, Mali; Centre Hospitalier de Soavinandriana (CENHOSOA) in Antananarivo, Madagascar; Centre Cardio-pédiatrique Cuomo in Dakar, Senegal; Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Tingandogo in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso).